TRU electrification work charges ahead

Tuesday 8 Jul 2025

TRU electrification work charges ahead

Region & Route:: Eastern

The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) has reached another milestone as engineers complete five consecutive weekends of critical work between Leeds and York, that will support the electrification of the railway.

Following overhead line equipment (OLE) mast installation earlier in the year, 7.5km of wiring has now been completed between Micklefield and Church Fenton, which will unlock faster, greener journeys in the future. Just to the east of this location, electric passenger services between York and Church Fenton are set to launch in the coming months, following last year’s successful switch-on between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge.

In Cross Gates, Station Road bridge was also safely demolished and replaced so that OLE can be installed throughout the area.

Around 750m of track was renewed between Killingbeck and Cross Gates, which will support smoother, more reliable travel. A new track crossover was also installed to allow trains to change from one line to another, which will enable the programme to keep more people moving on trains during a future stage of TRU delivery.

Adam Sellers, senior sponsor for TRU, said:

“This latest series of upgrades has taken us a step closer to the electrification of the route between York and Manchester. Wiring is now in place in the Barkston Ash area, whilst Cross Gates station can now facilitate the installation of OLE masts.

“Work to deliver cleaner, greener services throughout this area will continue throughout the year, whilst attention also turns to the introduction of electric passenger services nearby, which is another huge milestone for the programme.”

The delivery of these upgrades was made possible through a full closure of the line between Leeds and York, with close coordination between train operators including TransPennine Express and Northern. To keep passengers moving, diversionary routes and rail replacement buses were in operation across all five weekends.

Notes to Editors

Our workforce is local, with 80% employment from within a 40-mile radius of the route, and 60% employed from within a 25-mile radius.
With a current workforce of around 5000 people, we expect to employ 8000 people over the length of the programme.
The halfway mark of employing 590 apprentices has already been achieved, with over 360 now working on TRU
Improved natural environments near the railway through 10% biodiversity net gain across the route. This will create or enhance habitats for wildlife.
The multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) will bring this line into the 21st century with 70-miles of fully electric, digital railway.

Our plans include:

Electrifying the whole route between Manchester and York via Huddersfield and
Leeds
Installing a new digital signalling system along the Transpennine route
Doubling the number of tracks from two to four between Huddersfield and
Westtown in Dewsbury.
Station improvements along the route to enhance customer experience, comfort
and accessibility
Improving the railway on diversionary routes to allow more trains to run, helping
passengers and freight on the move while the core Transpennine route is closed to
deliver essential upgrades. This will provide capacity and reliability improvements
for the future too.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Ewan Bayliss
Communications Executive
Network Rail
ewan.bayliss@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

Media centre